While the union representing ambulance paramedics and dispatchers in BC has made a statement about staffing levels reach critical levels in the province, the BC Ambulance Service in Powell River is running at full capacity.
According to a story from the Canadian Press, the Ambulance Paramedics of British Columbia CUPE 873 says members are reporting dozens and dozens of unstaffed ambulances, with hundreds of unfilled positions across the province.
Powell River unit chief Terry Dyer said staffing shortages haven’t affected the local service.
“Our staffing has been pretty stable for the last few months,” said Dyer.
He said the service here is staffing its ambulances fully for the majority of shifts.
“For the odd day we might have somebody off, but for the most part, we’ve been able to staff fully,” said Dyer.
He added that with the staffing, response times have been normal. He said he is very happy with how the operation is running.
“We’re doing good as far as staffing goes,” said Dyer. “We have a good complement of people. We have a committed workforce.
“In the last two years or so, we’ve had a lot of new people come on, getting their start with the ambulance service. We’ve had some go and some other ones come. Overall, we maintain a workforce of 38 to 40 people. We have 16 full-time staff and the rest are casual workers.”
Dyer said part of the workforce travels to this community once or twice a month for a few days each. He said there are five or six people like that, getting their start with the ambulance service.
“We’re able to give them their shifts,” said Dyer. “They build some seniority and can request a transfer closer to home. We have a good crew and they do a good job.”
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